Review of Phantom of the Paradise (1974) by Shane W — 22 Aug 2009

I love musicals, especially unusual ones, and because of the mood I was in when I watched this, I would have been satisfied with anything even half as good as Rocky Horror. Instead, this movie, which obviously caters towards the B-movie crowd, insults that crowd's intelligence by assuming they have no standards instead of just different ones.

The idea was great, so I don't know why it had to be thrown away on weak writing, a surprisingly predictable plot, and characters that have no personality or change their personality halfway through the film for no apparent reason.

The music is cool, and I enjoyed watching some of the band performances, but that doesn't excuse the fact that this movie is bad, and perhaps, I fear, intentionally so.